Sask. Party peddling myths about NDP's record in office

First of all, it’s laughable to think that any government can “manage the economy." They can control tax rates, debt and deficits, and devise public policies that encourage investment, expansion and economic development. But all are equally ineffectual at controlling or managing the economy.

From day one of this election campaign, the Saskatchewan Party has accused the NDP of trying to drag Saskatchewan back to the ‘bad old days’ of the 1990s and early 2000s when the province’s population was dwindling and economic growth was anemic.

In his first election news release, Sask. Party Leader Brad Wall blamed previous NDP governments for the province’s poor job creation record and high taxes.

“The NDP raised taxes 21 times in 16 years. The Saskatchewan Party has delivered record income tax and education property tax cuts for everyone in Saskatchewan and has kept taxes low,” Wall said on the first day of the campaign, which started on Tuesday but feels like it’s being going on for months.

“The No. 1 issue in this campaign in the province is the economy,” Wall told reporters in Saskatoon. “The question will be which party has the proven record, has the team, has the ideas, has the vision to keep Saskatchewan’s economy strong.”

First of all, it’s laughable to think that any government can “manage the economy.” They can control tax rates, debt and deficits, and devise public policies that encourage investment, expansion and economic development. But all are equally ineffectual at controlling or managing the economy.

As premier for the last eight years and a former economic development officer, Wall knows this better than anyone. In fact, he’s said so on numerous occasions.

He may claim Saskatchewan’s economy is more diversified than it was when he first took office. But changes in Saskatchewan’s economic composition between 2007 and 2014 have been fairly minor, according to StatsCan numbers. The goods-producing sector has shifted from 45 per cent of the economy to 50 per cent, while services correspondingly dropped to 45 per cent from 50 per cent.

Within those broad sectors, the biggest percentage gains have been seen in construction, which increased from a six to a nine per cent share, while agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting increased from 5.5 per cent to 6.7 per cent. The energy sector has roughly the same share it had 2007 (about 25 per cent), as with industrial production (34 per cent) and manufacturing (six or seven per cent).

That’s what happens when you have US$100 a barrel oil — diversification goes out the window.

But what I really object to is the underlying message of the Sask. Party ads that the NDP somehow mismanaged the economy in the 1990s and 2000s.

The Romanow government was forced to play with a very bad hand dealt to them by the previous Devine government, of which Brad Wall was a part.

By slashing spending and, yes, raising taxes in the 1990s, the Romanow government righted the Good Ship Saskatchewan, slew the deficit dragon and balanced the budget, and for that all Saskatchewan residents, including Wall, should be thankful.

Similarly, the Calvert government introduced personal and business income tax reform, as well revamped the potash royalty regime, to encourage the building and expansion of potash mines, changes the opposition Sask. Party supported unanimously. A decade later, Saskatchewan is reaping the benefits of potash expansion (although low potash prices haven’t boosted royalty revenues as much as one would have hoped).

In fact, you could argue that the Sask. Party inherited from the NDP the fiscal stability and reformed income tax and royalty systems that set the stage for the prosperity Saskatchewan enjoyed from 2007 until fairly recently.

You could also say the Sask. Party government built on that strong economic foundation by paying down debt, cutting taxes and investing in infrastructure.

“And we paid down about $2.7 billion worth of debt; about 40 per cent of the (government’s) operational debt has been paid down over the course of the last eight years.”

“That’s where the money’s gone.”

So when Wall starts to brag about how well his government has managed the Saskatchewan economy, he should stick to the facts. And the facts are governments get too much credit when the economy is doing well and too much blame when it’s doing poorly.

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